Will's Apprentice better name pending
by Basic-bookworm
Summary: Wynnifred is a female apprentice in a man's world. She's determined to be the very first female apprentice to make the rank of Ranger, but soon she finds that it's easier said than done. T to be safe.
1. The Note

The Note

A small girl was sitting uncomfortably against a tree, her arms and legs tied up so she couldn't escape. She was a little dirty, her copper hair frizzy and blocking her vision of the Ranger who was lighting a fire.

Her mother had always told her that 'curiosity killed the cat' but did Wynnifred ever listen to her oh-so-wise mother? No. And because of that she was tied up and at the mercy off the ranger.

_It's all the Ranger's fault_, Wynn thought miserably, _if he hadn't paraded with that damn piece of paper, announcing to the world that it was about me then I wouldn't have followed him into these damn woods_!

Wynn tried again to blow her horrid hair out of her eyes so she could see what that man was doing however, as it was the last ten times she'd tried, Wynn's hair was too stubborn for its own good. _I'm cutting you off when this is over_, she thought viciously, _I don't care what mama says about how 'a lady should have long locks' I'm cutting the damn stuff off. But first I've got to get away... maybe if I ask for something to tie my hair back with... mmm that smells fantastic..._

Meanwhile, the Ranger that had the fifteen year old girl tied up smiled to himself, half because of the delicious stew he was preparing and half because his test had worked. It reminded him slightly of Halt's test for him when he was fifteen. It was mostly different of course, all that was similar was the bait.

Will had been aware that Wynn possessed the ability to become a Ranger the very day he'd first set foot in Saltrock fief, a little over five years ago.

There had been a sort of war between two groups of children in the town that day and Will had decided it would be interesting to watch. Will had seen a small redhead with a large bucketful of water sneak right past the 'enemy lines', using the shadows to mask her movement. Once behind the group of boys she climbed up to a rooftop using only one hand and her feet, found a place in the shadow of a chimney and put her bucket there, next to three or four other buckets that will assumed she had collected.

And then she just sat there for half an hour, completely still while the war ran through the village. The boys came trickling back to their base camp gradually. When all of the boys were back and planning their next attack she struck, pouring all four buckets of water onto the boys before they even knew she was there.

Will remembered how the group just stared up at the only girl participating in the war, stunned while said girl rolled around on the roof laughing. Which turned out to be a bad idea considering the fact that she fell and broke her arm.

Returning to the present, Will dished himself a large helping of the stew and started eating. He ate it all, very slowly before addressing the girl.

"So girl," he started. He knew Wynnifred's name, however a few years back Halt had given him some advice on apprentices. _At first never address them by their name, only call them by their name when they've progressed well, it's a subtle reward for their work but not praise._ "What are you doing thumping around in these woods? Attempting—and I'm using the word attempting very loosely—to sneak up on a Ranger is a serious thing."

"Can you please tie my hair back so I can see you?" She asked.

"Of course not," Will responded lightly. "Now why were you following me?" Of course Will already knew why she was following him, but it wouldn't do to let her know just yet. This was test number two.

"I wanted to know what was on that note. You said to my parents that it was about me but they won't tell me what it says."

Will allowed himself a smile, after all Wynn couldn't possibly see him behind all that hair. "So you decided to follow me into the woods?"

"Yes. Though it was damned stupid of me." She growled.

"No denying that." Will got to his feet and walked over to where Wynn was sitting; only taking him a second to untie the knots. "Don't try and get away. That would be stupider than getting here."

Will stepped back and the girl hurriedly pulled her hair out of her face so she could see him.

Wynn looked up to see the Ranger standing above her. "What was on the note?" she asked. The Ranger raised an eyebrow fractionally.

"What makes you think that I'm going to tell you?"

"You said it was about me!" She burst out.

Will seemed to think about this. "So I did." He decided then pointed to the west. "There's a freshwater stream that way. Fetch some water. Bucket's by my horse." He then seemed to lose interest in her, putting away his bowl and spoon.

Sighing, Wynn stood up and went to fetch the water.

ABRACADABRA

"So what exactly does a Ranger do?" Wynn asked, three days after Will had caught her. Apparently the Ranger had decided to keep her for the trip.

Will paused for a moment before answering. "Ranger's form Araluen's intelligence network. They make it their job to know everything that's going on in the Kingdom."

"But there's only fifty of them. How can they know everything?"

"Trade secret." He grunted.

Wynn sat up a little straighter. "That reminds me! I was planning on asking this earlier: Will, how did you become a Ranger?"

Will leaned back on a rock and faced the girl. "Many long, hard years of apprenticeship." He announced, studying the girl closely; he had a feeling that this question was less innocent than it seemed.

Wynn jumped in with another question that confirmed Will's suspicions. "Have there ever been any female Ranger's?"

Will smiled inwardly. "No there hasn't."

Wynn frowned slightly. "Why not?"

"Women generally aren't interested in a Ranger's life. It can get very lonely. Also a Ranger's life isn't for the faint hearted."

"That is an unfair generalization of women." Wynn said indignantly. Will resisted the urge to smile.

"True." He agreed. He noticed that the small redhead next to him was biting her lip as if trying to decide to ask something.

"What?" He asked.

"Could you teach me how you walk around without people seeing?" Will smiled thinly.

"I could teach you the basics but the key to a Ranger's unseen movement is their cloak. It uses a term called camouflage, have you heard of it?"

Wynn shook her head mutely.

"I didn't think you would." Will spent the rest of the afternoon teaching the girl about camouflage.

LADEDE~LADEDUM

"Tomorrow, we'll be back," Will announced over supper on the fifth night, "so I thought it was about time that I gave you this." He passed a small piece of folded paper to Wynn.

She looked at the Ranger, confusion sparkling in her emerald eyes. "What's this?" She asked.

Will laughed. "Don't you remember why you followed me in the first place, girl?"

Wynn's eyes widened. "But I thought you weren't going to show it to me!"

"I never said that I wasn't going to show it to you. Now do you want to know what it says or not, because if you're not interested anymore I can—"

"No, no!" Wynn cried. "I'll read it."

Quickly, before Will could change his mind, Wynn unfolded the note and read it.

_Your daughter has the potential to become a Ranger. I would like to take her as my apprentice._

_AN: /sigh/ I know it's very similar to the way Will was tested but a flyke, I do not give. What do you think about Wynn? I've already got a oneshot of her, which will probably end up being a chapter later on._

_Tell me, do any of you have any suggestions on a name for Cassandra and Horace's kids names? Two boys and a girl._

_Please and thank you,_

_~BB_


	2. Patch 'N' Thwak

Patch 'N' Thwak

_Thwak!_ Wynn sighed. Finally her damned arrow had hit the target, nowhere near where she aimed it, but on the target nonetheless.

She'd been Will's apprentice officially for a week and had spent almost every waking moment of that week cleaning, cooking and shooting. The first two she was good at, what with her growing up in her family's inn in the village, however the last one was proving to be quite a task. This was the first time she'd hit the target and Wynn allowed herself a small grin.

"Congratulations," Will said from behind her, Wynn spun around to face her master. "you hit the target. With a few months of solid practise you might manage the standards of that of a twelve-year-old."

Wynn sighed silently, nocking another arrow, she drew back and took aim. "You're using your arms too much." Will commented. I focused on using my back. "That's better, now you're aiming wrong; you've got to aim a little higher for that distance... Good... Now there's a slight wind coming from the east so aim a little to the left—not that far!" As Wynn did as he said her arms started getting weak, she gritted her teeth and tried to keep her arms still but she must have relaxed a little because Will said, "You need to build up your strength, After dark I'll give you some weights to lift for half an hour. You can continue this every second day. I'll cook dinner tonight. Now release." I released gratefully and the arrow fell to the ground a metre shy of the target.

"That's because of the slack you allowed." Will commented. "Change to the ten metre target in the next shot, vary between the ten metre and the fifteen metre target until you hit both targets every time, when you've done that shoot randomly between all five targets until you hit all targets every time for ten days. If you miss once—and only once—your day count restarts. That should take you a month or two. Got that?"

Wynn nodded. "Yes, Will."

"Good. Now I'm going up to the castle for some business and to if some items I ordered last week have arrived. I'll be gone for a few hours."

And with that he left.

* * *

><p>Nock—draw—aim—adjust—shoot—miss—nock—draw—aim—adjust—shoot—hit—nock—draw—aim—adjust—hit—nock—draw—aim—adjust—shoot—hit—nock—draw—aim—adjust—shoot—hit—nock—draw—aim—adjust—shoot—hit—nock—wait a second. Wynn looked at the two targets she'd been shooting at; they both had a few arrows sticking out of them, five all together. Did she just get five in a row? She could just be getting lucky, after ten days of Will's routine she could count how many times she'd hit the targets on her digits.<p>

Shrugging, Wynn drew the last arrow in her bucket, Wynn drew, aimed, adjusted and shot. At the last second a strand of her long, curly hair flew into her face, causing her to miss the target all together.

"I swear I'll cut you off if you keep doing that." She muttered, though she knew she wouldn't, she loved her hair.

Wynn silently collected her arrows and set into the rhythm of shooting at the targets.

* * *

><p>Wynn fired the 25th arrow of the set and upon seeing it hit within ten centimetres of the <em>very spot<em> that she aimed for, she cheered. Every single arrow of that set had hit their respective targets. She was in week three of her task and for the past three rounds, every arrow hit the target. Granted, some had barely gotten onto the target but they still counted. If she kept this up she might start on all five targets by the end of the week.

Wynn was about to collect her arrows when Will's voice came from behind her. "When you've collected all of the arrows put them away, I've got someone I want you to meet." Wynn spun around and saw the small ranger sitting on Tug with another short, shaggy horse following around. This one had a white patch over its left eye.

"Who's that?" Wynn asked.

Will smiled slightly. "I'll tell you when you've put the arrows away." Interested, Wynn rushed to collect all of her arrows and put the bucket where it stayed in her room.

"This," Will started when Wynn was outside, "is your horse."

Wynn could feel her eyes widen but couldn't do anything about it. "Really?" She asked. The Ranger nodded grimly.

Wynn took a step towards her horse carefully. "Her name's Patch. Here—" he threw Wynn an apple, "—she likes these." Wynn gave Patch the apple carefully, grinning.

"Have you ever ridden a horse before?" Will questioned. Wynn nodded.

"When I was little we used to have an old pack horse, I used to ride him occasionally."

"Well you can ride Patch around while I prepare lunch. In the saddle pack there's your gear. Pants came with the uniform but you can wear a plain brown skirt instead, change before lunch. After lunch I'll show you how to take care of her properly." He made to leave before seeming to remember something. "Oh and with Ranger horses, you need to ask permission before riding them. That way they can never be stolen. You ask differently for every horse. For Patch you have to say _s'il vous pla__ît_."

"_S'il vous plait_?" Wynn asked questioningly.

"Not to me, to the horse." Will laughed before leaving Wynn alone with Patch.

Feeling slightly foolish, Wynn whispered the words into Patches ear then pulled herself up into a side-saddle position which was the only way she could ride in her damned skirt.

Wynn longed to see what Patch could really do as they walked around, but her saddle wasn't built for side saddle and she had trouble staying on as it was.

* * *

><p>It was month three and Wynn still hadn't managed to go ten days without missing. Will couldn't understand it, her accuracy was getting better but she couldn't seem to hit the target every time.<p>

It was the same with her throwing knife, her accuracy had improved but sometimes she missed altogether and had to start again, in fact, all of her physical skills seemed to have hit a wall, Will felt that Wynn would either have to climb it or quit.

Will sighed, running his fingers through his hair in frustration as he noticed that the arrow Wynn had just fired had missed the target.

She was fine in other sections; her grasp at geography was slowly but surely climbing, as was her ability to track and, come to think of it, her strength had improved. Will decided that he'd give it another month before giving up.

* * *

><p>Wynn stared at her hands blankly. It wasn't working. Maybe there <em>was<em> a reason that no girls had ever been Ranger's. Maybe she should give up too.

Her hands fisted and her teeth clenched, a tear rolled down her cheek. This wasn't right, how could she just give up? She _could _move undetected, she'd done it but she wasn't getting any better! This is what happened to the other women who avoided tradition and tried to become a Ranger. They wouldn't have become apprentices if they didn't have the ability, so what was wrong? Why couldn't they manage it?

Will was going to tell her that it wasn't working any day now. He was going to tell her that it was a mistake to start her apprenticeship. At that moment in time, all she wanted was to get this right, to spend half a decade training ruthlessly, to become a Ranger.

Wynn was close to breaking out in frustrated sobs when something deep within her hardened. _Stop!_ She told herself furiously. _Calm down. Take three deep breaths and _think_. No amount of crying will help you._ Wynn slowly took three deep breaths, feeling herself calm down with every breath.

_Okay_, she thought, _there's something I'm missing here. I have the ability, I know it, there's something wrong. Which means something is different. THINK!_

Standing up, Wynn strode to the full length mirror in the corner of the room and studied herself mercilessly. "What are the differences between male and female?" She demanded of her reflection.

"Body shape." She answered herself. "No that can't be the problem. Temperament? Not with me."

Wynn had a sudden flashback of her mother combing her hair.

"_You should act more like a lady Wynnie." Her mother cooed. "You're very beautiful and a beautiful girl like you should act like a lady."_

_Thirteen year old Wynnifred huffed. "I'm no lady, Ma."_

"_You could have fooled me, Wynnie. You have all of these lovely skirts, and beautiful long hair."_

"_I'm still not a lady."_

Returning to the present Wynn took a step closer to the mirror and whispered a reply to her thirteen year old self. "But I look like one."

How many times had her hair gotten in the way when she was about to shoot? How many times had she tripped on her skirt while trying to move without being seen? And what's more is that it wasn't only that. She rode Patch side-saddle and spent hours making sure her clothes were spotless. She wasn't a lady though, she was in between.

And far too feminine for the job.

Wynn took a large chunk of her hair and looked at it for five minutes. Today she would lose something: her future as a Ranger or her femininity. One had to go.

She looked back into her mirror. Before dropping her hair, taking her saxe knife and walking out the door. Will was sitting on one of his chairs on the porch; he raised his eyebrow when he saw her. "What are you doing?" he asked as she sat on the edge.

Wynn took a chunk of her hair in one hand and gripped her saxe knife in the other and got to work as she answered. "Giving myself a haircut."

* * *

><p><em>AN: uuuuuuurrrrrrrrrggggggggg. This chapter's so freaking jumpy. PLEASE forgive me!<em>

_This chapter is dedicated to _Sparkzz Babee _who sent me a message that made me get up off my arse (mentally) and WRITE THIS CHAPTER._

_I might not have done anything except, near the bottom she/he wrote "_I've re-read your chappie probs 3 times now."

_O-O_

_THREE TIMES!_

_THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL I'M LETTIN THAT KIND OF AWESOMENESS DOWN!_

_Also w/ cassie and horace's kiddies: their names (oldest to youngest)_

_Alhana, Fredrick and Darren_

_BB OUT BABEE'Z (and the rest of you DARLING people who commented!)_


End file.
